Biology Chapter 4 Section 4 – Overview of Cellular Respiration Key Concept: The overall process of cellular respiration converts sugar into ATP using oxygen.
Cellular Respiration – the process of using oxygen to produce ATP by breaking down carbon-based molecules C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6 H2O + ATP a sugar oxygen carbon dioxide water energy
Cellular respiration is an aerobic process – it needs oxygen to happen Makes most of the ATP that a cell needs Takes place in the mitochondria Before cellular respiration can happen, food has to be broken into smaller molecules like glucose
Glycolysis – breaks glucose into 2 molecules that each have 3 carbons Glycolysis is anaerobic – it does not need oxygen Takes place in the cytoplasm of the cell The products of glycolysis (the 3-carbon molecules) enter the mitochondria and are used in cellular respiration
There are 2 main parts of cellular respiration: Stage 1: Krebs Cycle – uses the molecules from glycolysis to produce a small amount of ATP and other molecules that carry energy to the next part of cellular respiration carbon dioxide is a waste product of this process
Stage 2: Electron Transport - energy carrying molecules from glycolysis and the Krebs cycle are moved through a chain of proteins and large numbers of ATP molecules are produced oxygen enters the process and is used to make water molecules heat and water are released as waste products
Cellular Respiration is like a mirror image of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis makes sugars and cellular respiration breaks down sugars The chemical equations of the 2 processes are basically opposites.